Production and Technical Credits

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary, which is only slightly more competitive than Best Animated Feature Film. (The next two categories are more competitive, I promise.)
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Oscar nominations were announced at 5:38 this morning, continuing a tradition that have never been adequately explained to me. (Why so early in the morning? Does earning an Oscar nomination become sweeter if people have to wake you up to congratulate you?) Leading the way in nominations were Avatar and The Hurt Locker, both of which pick up nine nods each, many of them in the same categories.
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The Directors Guild of America release their nominations over three days stretched out over a week. Only two of the nominations are for theatrical releases, but at least the documentary category had some interesting nominees. On the other hand, Feature Film merely enforces the trends we've seen throughout Awards Season.
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As always, the Independent Spirit Awards represent the unofficial start of Awards Season with the announcement of their nominations.
This year The Last Station and Precious topped the list of nominees with five each.
For the former, it should help build buzz for its 2010 release.
For the latter, it is the first step towards possible Awards Season glory and further enhances its already lofty box office potential.
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Another week with a large selection of great releases, including several contenders for DVD Pick of the Week. (There are also more than a few releases that could have been contenders, but the screeners still have not yet arrived. I fear they will all arrive on the same day and the sheer number of them will cause my head to explode.) The best new release this week is Food, Inc. on either DVD or Blu-ray. Classic releases like North By Northwest on Blu-ray and It's a Wonderful Life on Blu-ray are must haves, as is the James BondBlu-ray Box Set. Despite there being more than a dozen releases this week where I'm still waiting for the screener to arrive, the list as still too long to fit on one page. The second part can be found here.
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Another week with a large selection of great releases, including several contenders for DVD Pick of the Week. (There are also more than a few releases that could have been contenders, but the screeners still have not yet arrived. I fear they will all arrive on the same day and the sheer number of them will cause my head to explode.) The best new release this week is Food, Inc. on either DVD or Blu-ray. Classic releases like North By Northwest on Blu-ray and It's a Wonderful Life on Blu-ray are must haves, as is the James BondBlu-ray Box Set. Despite there being more than a dozen releases this week where I'm still waiting for the screener to arrive, the list as still too long to fit on one page. The second part can be found here.
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This proved to be a bumper weekend for movies in limited release.
The September Issue was the number one film on the per theater chart, and it won by a huge margin with an average of $36,736 to an average of $12,133 for Big Fan. The Headless Woman was right behind with $11,862 in one theater. Der Baader Meinhof Komplex grew over the weekend to earn $10,564. Brighton Rock returned to the $10,000 club with $10,392 in one theater. And Still Walking was the final film in the $10,000 club, earning an average of $10,149 in two theaters.
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Summer might be ending, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of activity on the per theater chart. Placing first was Adam with an average of $17,094 in four theaters. This suggests at least some potential to expand. The same can be said of The Cove and its average of $14,410; however, as a documentary, there is a lower upper limit to its box office potential. Thirst was right behind with an average of $13,972, which is better than Let the Right On In opened with. Finally, (500) Days of Summer remained in the $10,000 club for one more week with an average of $10,439 in 266 theaters.
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(500) Days of Summer led the way on the per theater chart with an outstanding average of $30,907, which was nearly twice as much as the second placed film.
That honor went to the overall box office champion film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which earned an average of $17,997.
Alien Trespass skyrocketed into third place with $14,405 in one theater thanks to special screenings at the Fantasia Montreal Film Festival.
The final film to reach the $10,000 mark was A Woman in Berlin with $12,439, also in one theater.
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Only three films managed to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart this week, and no new releases were able to top The Hurt Locker. That film led the way with an average or $14,578 in nine theaters, but it will need to strike fast if it wants to expand significantly. The Beaches of Agnes was the best of the new releases, opening with an average of $10,650 in two theaters.
Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs opened with an average of $10,171, while the overall number one film, Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, just missed the $10,000 market with an average of $9,995.
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There were half-a-dozen films that managed to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart, led by Food, Inc. with an impressive average of $20,171 in three theaters.
This suggests at least some potential for expansion.
Moon opened in a few more theaters while its average was slightly below at $17,006, but this is also enough to suggest some potential for expansion.
Tetro opened on Thursday and earned nearly $40,000 over 4 days, but over the three-day weekend it managed an average of $16,221.
Away We Go expanded from 4 to 45 theaters, but still earned an average of $12,463, and this is very good news indeed. Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love opened with an average of $10,866 in three theaters while Le Combat Dans l'Ile opened with $10,217 in one.
The overall box office champion, The Hangover, came awfully close to the $10,000 mark with an average of $9,775.
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